


After the storm

by obviouslyelementary



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Leia's death, M/M, Post TLJ, TLJ Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 12:46:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13077180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obviouslyelementary/pseuds/obviouslyelementary
Summary: '“I lost my son. Then, my husband. Now, my brother. The force is calling us. The Skywalker journey is coming to an end” she said and squeezed his hand again. “You, Finn, Rey… you are the new generation. The ones that must go on, with no attachment to the past. The Jedis, the Siths, the empire and the republic, they are all done. Now, it is up to you to make the galaxy what you desire of it” she smiled fondly and reached up, touching his cheek.He hadn’t noticed he was crying until that very moment.'Post TLJ. Leia dies and Poe Dameron is suffering.





	After the storm

They had been too late.

The Falcon, Rey, arrived in time to take the resistance away towards another base. They had been able to fit everyone inside, and everything seemed to be going great, aside from… a very important detail.

Leia did not seem to be handling it well.

She was becoming more and more ill every day. They kept treating her as well as they could, but they had other warriors to take care of, and she preferred them over herself. Selfless, as usual, but this time, the despair inside Poe’s heart was more worrying than ever before.

She had survived because the force had wanted her to. But the force could take her from them at any moment, now that the resistance was reduced to barely fifty people, and both her husband and her brother had died.

That, and also that she had finally given up on Ben. At last, Poe would say, if the situation was ever different.

Right now, she looked like a lonely, sad soul, staring at nothingness as she slowly decayed. Not close to the general he knew, or the princess he heard about.

It hurt him more than he could ever imagine.

“Leia?” he asked, softly, walking closer, and she looked at him, smiling weakly.

“Yes, Poe?”

“Are… are you sure you are okay?” he asked, sitting down, and she sighed before nodding.

“Yes. You do not have to worry over me, dearest”

He winced. She didn’t normally use caring pet names, unless she was scared or… sentimental.

“Are you… sure?” he asked, because his heart was already breaking. He reached up for his own chest, squeezing his mother’s ring under his shirt, wondering if he was about to lose the only thing left he had of a mother figure, or any parent figure in general.

Leia just smiled at him.

“Poe” she started, and slowly took his free hand. He squeezed hers, and she smiled a bit brighter. “There is something I never thought I would learn, but now I can see clearly. Everything happens with propose. Nothing is in vain. And life turns in circles, repeating its cycle over and over again. Nothing is really the same, but nothing is different either. And everything, everyone, has their time. Mine is coming to an end”

Poe’s eyes widened and his heart broke under his hand.

“N-no! That’s not-” he tried, but she shushed him, squeezing his hand.

“I lost my son. Then, my husband. Now, my brother. The force is calling us. The Skywalker journey is coming to an end” she said and squeezed his hand again. “You, Finn, Rey… you are the new generation. The ones that must go on, with no attachment to the past. The Jedis, the Siths, the empire and the republic, they are all done. Now, it is up to you to make the galaxy what you desire of it” she smiled fondly and reached up, touching his cheek.

He hadn’t noticed he was crying until that very moment.

“B-but” he muttered, biting his lip because his voice was wavy and he could feel the heaviness of his heart, crushing it all over again. She shushed him again and leaned forward, touching their foreheads.

“You lost your parents, and I lost my son. Our paths were not crossed for any reason, Poe Dameron. I trust you with all I build, and with all that is left of it” she whispered and dried his tears as he felt a sob coming up his throat. He held it back, however, biting his lip and closing his eyes. “If I die today, tomorrow, or in a million years, I know I did all I could, and left fulfilling my job. And now, it is time to fulfill yours”

“Please don’t die. Not today, not tomorrow” he whimpered, and normally he would feel ashamed, but right now, he felt his heart breaking in so many pieces that nothing could truly shame him. “S-stay… please…”

“I love you, Poe Dameron” she whispered and caressed his face. “Like the son I lost. You were my second chance, and I got it right. Now it is up to you” she continued, and Poe’s eyes opened when her touch became lighter and she pulled away. His eyes widened in despair as she slowly disappeared in front of him. “Defeat the First Order if you can, but save the resistance.”

“No. No no no” he said, gripping onto her hand as she faded away. “No!” he screamed, desperate, and the crew turned towards him. The Falcon wasn’t too big, so Rey and Finn quickly came from wherever they were, just in time to see Leia disappearing completely, her clothes falling on the space next to Poe.

The crew didn’t know what to do. They were all frozen, in shock, but it only took Poe two second before he gripped her clothes and sobbed, loud, clear, broken.

He did not care who saw. He had lost his parents before, and now he lost the only person that he could call family. The only one he could trust, the one that taught him all he knew and took him in when he was nothing more than a lost and lonely and scared boy.

And now, he felt that boy rising to the surface again.

At some point, someone held his shoulder, tugging onto it gently. They were speaking to him as well, but he couldn’t really understand them, too caught up in his own feelings. Only when another hand pulled him up and pressed him against a steady, broad and warm chest, he gripped on that person instead, still crying like a scared child, his whole world crushing over him, squishing and breaking him.

He didn’t remember what happened next. He remembered a warm surface where he sat on while he cried in that person’s shoulder, until he felt into an uncomfortable, crying related sleep, filled with darkness and sadness.

But he was sure, that before he fell asleep, he heard a voice inside his head.

**_It hurts, doesn’t it._ **

He didn’t know who said it, and in the next moment, he had fallen into a deep sleep in someone’s arms.

He was so tired, he didn’t feel like waking up ever again.

But he did. Of course he did.

And he woke up, hours later, trembling and shaken. It took him two seconds to remember what happened, his eyes tearing up again. He didn’t even notice he was curled up in someone’s arms before that person slid their fingers through his hair.

“Poe?”

He sniffled, biting his lip to hold back a sob as he looked up. Finn was staring back down at him, worry showing in every fiber of his being, his own eyes a bit puffy from crying. He had one arm around Poe’s waist protectively, and the other caressed his head slowly.

Poe would have blushed, would have thought of every little implication of the image above him, if the odds were different. Right now, he was grieving. Mourning.

“She’s _dead_ ” he said, his voice breaking at the last word. Finn winced a bit, before he nodded, arm pulling Poe slightly closer.

“She is. I am sorry Poe” he whispered, and Poe laid next to Finn, their faces lined up, because Poe was tired and he wanted to lay down forever and never stand up again. Finn’s hand moved away from his hair, and Poe almost sobbed at that, needy of every comfort, any contact. The arm around his waist stayed, however. “There was nothing we could do”

“She disappeared” he breathed out, shaking, voice so broken he didn’t even recognize himself. “She… she was just gone…” he bit his lip, new tears forming in his already burning eyes. “I-I couldn’t… I co-cou-co-” he tried, but then, he was sobbing again. Finn was quick to pull him close, Poe’s face finding space under Finn’s chin as he nuzzled on Poe’s hair, hugging him with both arms now, holding him close, caressing his hair again.

“It’s okay… you don’t have to be strong. Not around me” Finn whispered, and Poe continued to sob, for a long time, all while Finn waited patiently, caressing his back and head, trying to make Poe slightly less sad.

When he was able to stop and breathe properly again, Poe remained where he was, trying to make himself as small as he could, afraid of coming out and finding out that everyone he loved was dead.

Almost everyone was. BB-8 and Finn were left.

“H-how did you d-do it?” he asked, and Finn frowned, looking down as Poe looked up. They were so close their noses almost brushed together, but neither seemed to care.

“Do what?” he asked, and Poe sniffled.

“Get over it? Y-you said that… that the f-first order took you when you were a child…” he mumbled, and Finn hummed.

“Well… I never knew my parents, truly. They took me as a baby, I don’t remember anything of my planet, family” he said, and then sighed. “And I think it is better like this. At least I will never find out that my parents just sold me for nothing, like Rey did”

Poe looked down again, and nodded slowly. Finn continued looking at him.

“Don’t you wish you had a family?” he asked, and Finn shrugged.

“I have one now” he said, simply, and Poe looked up. Finn was smiling. “You. Rey. BB-8. Rose. Solo, General Organa… They were my family too, even for a short time. I have no idea what you feel, but I am aware that these few that are left… are our family now. And you, our general. Our leader. And everyone in this ship will follow you to their deaths”

Poe winced, and looked away.

“I don’t want them to” he whispered, but Finn touched his cheek and turned his face towards himself again.

“It is not your choice” he said firmly, and then smiled in that calming way of his that Poe was still unsure of how he even managed. “It’s their choice. It’s our choice. And your job is to assure we have the best plans, so the few that actually end up dying don’t die in vain”

“That is too much responsibility” he whispered, and closed his eyes as despair settled in his heart. “Being responsible for so many lives… so many deaths…”

“That is what General Organa went through” Finn said wisely, and Poe’s eyes widened, looking at him. “All those deaths were put on her back, since the empire days. But she took it and handled it until the end. And she gave you the job of continuing” he added and smiled sadly. “I bet it is too much. But you have all these people to help you, and they will”

Poe stared at him quietly, for a long time, before he lifted his hand, holding Finn’s arm.

“Will you? Help me?” he asked, and Finn stared back. For a few seconds, he stood quiet and still, before he smiled and held Poe’s hand over his arm.

“I will always be here, Poe. No matter what”

Poe felt his heart swelling with pain and love. He felt like crying again, eyes burning, but he had no tears left. So instead, he squeezed Finn’s arm, letting his heart speak for once.

“I love you”

Those waiting moments were incredibly unpleasant. But Poe couldn’t bring himself to say he was sorry. He loved Finn with every fiber of his being and he was so vulnerable, so shaken and open. There was nothing he could do but say the truth.

And after a moment, a smile opened in Finn’s face.

“I know”

And for a moment, a single, sweet moment, all worries in the world dissipated, and Poe smiled back.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Stormpilot fanfic but honestly, the ending was just a softer ending than what I had planned because man, this fanfic is sad.
> 
> I just wanted to write what I think won't happen in the next movie but in any case, here it is. poe Dameron suffering is also a plus in any occasion so there.


End file.
